FIFA challenges UEFA document request over controversial FFE proposal

FIFA has accused UEFA of conducting a “smear campaign” against the organisation and its president Gianni Infantino after European football’s governing body threatened possible criminal proceedings linked to a failed commercial plan, according to The Athletic.

The dispute centres on an initiative known as FFE, under which FIFA proposed selling a 20% stake in its commercial and organisational operations for $4.2bn (£3.1bn). UEFA alleged in a legal filing submitted in the United States on 28 August that Infantino had promoted the valuation “fraudulently at an off-market price for his personal benefit”.

UEFA is seeking access to documents as a possible first step towards criminal proceedings against Infantino in Switzerland. Its lawyers described the $4.2bn valuation as “absurdly low” and argued that it was not the result of an “open and competitive auction”.

FIFA has opposed the request. In an application to intervene filed in New York last Tuesday, it asked for the disclosure process to be delayed or for UEFA’s application to be rejected altogether.

“Although styled as legal claims with captions and docket numbers, these applications are nothing more than press releases, supporting UEFA’s smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership,” FIFA said in its filing.

The organisation added: “This is evident from UEFA’s decision to alert the media before filing these applications, from the many paragraphs in the applications based solely on press reports many of which quote UEFA and from a fundamental defect in UEFA’s application: it seeks disclosure to support a foreign criminal proceeding that does not exist, and UEFA itself admits that it lacks the authority to initiate it.”

FIFA also alleged that UEFA deliberately obstructed the FFE project. It claimed UEFA threatened to boycott all European national teams from future FIFA competitions unless the proposal was withdrawn, an attempt to prevent the initiative from being launched.

“Instead of participating in that democratic process, UEFA issued a press release, beginning a weeks-long smear campaign against FIFA and its leadership,” the filing said.

FIFA further claimed that UEFA’s “economic motivation” for opposing FFE was to stop smaller nations from gaining the financial strength needed to challenge Europe’s established elite.

“If football in the developing world became stronger, global competition would increase, ultimately reducing UEFA’s market power and providing more competition for its major tournaments,” FIFA said.

It added: “By pooling funds to allow some of FIFA’s smaller member associations to develop football more effectively, FFE would have resulted in more players from those countries being selected to represent their national teams and playing in their domestic leagues, rather than playing abroad. All of this would have weakened UEFA’s dominance over other regions of the world.”

FIFA’s filing also rejected UEFA’s suggestion that it could bring a criminal case against Infantino in Switzerland.

The disclosure requests do not concern Infantino alone. Similar legal applications were filed in New York against Thrive, Josh Kushner and JPMorgan, while Pan Ventures and its chief executive Greg Maffei face matching proceedings in Colorado.

JPMorgan and Pan Ventures were expected to work with FIFA on the FFE project. FIFA named both organisations in its statement announcing the plans on 28 July.

Kushner issued his first public comment since the collapse of FFE last Monday in response to UEFA’s document request. He said Thrive “did not appreciate the political dynamics of global football” and added: “We would not have been drawn into the plan” if we had known “what it would become”.